Tuesday, April 9th - American Idol - The Top 8

I know. I committed some sort of gay heresy for skipping Dolly week last week, but I was so swamped with other things (re: drinking and meetings..often at the same time), I wasn't able to properly take notes and write out my opinions. So, this week, I sat down with my pad of paper ready for "Inspiration Week," which in the end pretty much lacked any of the theme. I'll be the first to admit that treacly ballads are not my cup of tea. Sure, I enjoy them on occasion, but if you're as frequent of a karaoke goer as I am, you learn to despise the the belters, some who actually can do it well and cause a pearl clutching moments or, more often than not, those who really can't that cause a bathroom break. I wrote about this on the Mean Girls blog in December. Check it out!

Anyway, onto the rankings. The sad thing is that when Kristi Lee Cook registers better than Carly Smithson, you know it's been a bad week. I voted for Carly tonight because I think she deserves to stay around, but I think she's in trouble on Thursday.

The Top 3

1. Michael Johns - I'm with Paula on this one. I though Aerosmith's "Dream On" was a good choice for him. I am still not sold on his chances to win it all, but I thought he did a good job tonight. He did have pitch problems, and the falsetto at the end just seemed like a weak attempt to immitate Steven Tyler. He doesn't gird my loins like I know he does some people, but he at least deserves to stay around a few more weeks.
2. David Archuleta - I wouldn't say I was knocked over by his performance of Robbie William's "Angels", but it was pretty good. I really didn't expect any less because he has excelled at the big ballads. I don't think he is commercial enough to excel in the current music industry. If he wins, he could be the second coming of Taylor Hicks, but considering there are still girls ready to throw their training bras at the stage, he could end up winning.
3. Kristi Lee Cook - It pains me to place her here, but her rendition of Martina McBride's "Anyway" was pretty darn good. Of course, it was the return of Wide Stance Kristi, but she kept her voice under control, and where better singers have been tossed around by McBride, she did a good job. Blah...

The Meh-iddle

• David Cook - Bad Song Choice! I don't care if Our Lady Peace is your favorite band. The song "Innocent" just didn't translate well to the shortened Idol format. I'm also getting a bit tired of his overuse of rocker cliches. He doesn't need to hold onto the mike stand every song. I still believe he has the power to win this thing, but he needs to tone it down and pick good songs. Everyone has a bad week and he has no threat to going home, but he needs to not make it a habit.
• Jason Castro - If I had my druthers, he would be in the bottom and/or firmly ensconced at home by now. He simply cannot do anything else other than sit there with his guitar (or ukelele) and strum like some street musician. I get that he's cute, and the little girls love him. However, does anyone really think he is the next American Idol? His rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was merely okay, and I wrote "puke" in my notes. Which I think is enough said...
• Brook White - The only reason I didn't put her in the bottom two is because she went last. She didn't do a horrible job on Carole King's "You Got a Friend," but it wasn't exactly earth shattering. She's really lost her way in this competition, and I hope she gets it back.

The Bottom 2

• Carly Smithson - I hate typing this, but even though I enjoyed her rendition of Queen's "The Show Must Go On," I do agree that it was a bit thudding and oppressive for an inspirational night. Her voice still amazes me, but I think she is in real jeopardy. Once again, during her performance, I caught colors of Grace Slick, and I really want her to have a chance to possibily sing some of her. I voted. I hope she stays around.
• Syesha Mercado - Gurl, please. You need to stop picking songs that are iconically connected with a certain artist. After being nearly swallowed by Dolly/Whitney's version of "I Will Always Love You" last week, she goes and picks "I Believe," the song that Fantasia sang when she one American Idol, and she sang it with all the emotional connection of singing the phone book. She was technically sound, but she was also irritating with her shock that Randy would think about comparing her to Fantasia. That get's another...Gurl, Please!

All in all, it was a meh night. Tonight they are doing another version of Idol Give's Back, and then they will have the results show on Thursday. I'm not sure yet if I'll blog about the show tonight, we'll see.